Far East Gold Ltd (ASX:FEG) has started diamond drilling at the high-grade Sua prospect within the Idenburg Contract of Work in Papua Province, Indonesia. The program comprises 10 diamond drill holes totalling 1,820 metres (m) and will run in parallel with the ongoing North Bermol drill program and the soon-to-begin campaign at the Kwaplu prospect.
Drilling aims to confirm and extend high-grade gold zones intersected in earlier campaigns and to advance the geological model of the broader Sua–Afley Shear Zone, a five-kilometre structural corridor.
Historical drilling underscores high grades and continuity
The Sua prospect was last drilled in 2005–2006 by Avocet Mining, with 18 of 22 holes intersecting gold mineralisation. Notable intercepts included:
- KSD001: 16 m @ 2.38 g/t Au from 0 m; 4 m @ 5.96 g/t Au from 41 m, including 2 m @ 11.4 g/t Au from 43 m.
- KSD002: 7.5 m @ 13.6 g/t Au from 21 m; 2 m @ 8.78 g/t Au from 78 m.
- KSD005: 9 m @ 4.0 g/t Au from 80 m, including 1 m @ 25.8 g/t Au.
- KSD008: 5 m @ 21.8 g/t Au from 107 m, including 3 m @ 35.0 g/t Au.
- KSD010: 18 m @ 2.05 g/t Au from 0 m; 3 m @ 17.7 g/t Au from 55 m.
- KSD013: 7 m @ 3.29 g/t Au from 0 m; 6 m @ 8.22 g/t Au, including 2 m @ 52.3 g/t Au from 13 m.
- KSD021: 3 m @ 9.56 g/t Au from 75 m, including 1 m @ 23.0 g/t Au from 77 m.
- KSD022: 17 m @ 2.88 g/t Au from 0 m; 8 m @ 1.43 g/t Au from 33 m.
More than 30 gold-bearing veins have been identified across the district, indicating multiple stacked high-grade shear zones with potential for resource expansion.
Map showing prospect and resource areas within the Idenburg COW tenement. Recent mapping was completed in the North Bermol prospect area and discovered new zones of shear/fault-hosted gold mineralisation.
“The commencement of drilling at Sua marks another important milestone in unlocking the exceptional potential of our Idenburg project,” Far East Gold CEO Shane Menere said. “The historical results from Sua are nothing short of outstanding, with multiple high-grade intercepts up to 52.5 g/t Au. This new drilling program is designed to confirm and extend those results, and we are confident that it has the potential to define a significant high-grade system. With rigs now turning at both North Bermol and Sua, far East Gold is advancing two highly compelling prospects in parallel, both of which demonstrate the scale, grade, and continuity needed to underpin a world-class gold project.”
Planned drill program
Far East Gold will drill at Sua to confirm the geological interpretation and previously reported high-grade gold zones. Earlier drilling was completed on 100-metre centres; the new program will tighten spacing to 25 metres and 50 metres to test lateral continuity across the mineralised zones.
Image showing the Sua prospect area and the locations of planned drillholes (yellow). The planned holes will confirm mineralised zones intersected by previous drilling and the geological model applied. The program will also seek to extend zones of high-grade mineralisation between the 100m spaced historical drilled holes. A review and discussion of historical exploration and assessment of resource potential can be found in the company ASX announcement of announcement of August 21, 2024. Coordinates are referenced to datum WGS84, zone 54 south.
An initial inferred Mineral Resource estimate under the Joint Ore Reserves Committee (JORC) 2012 Code has been completed for Sua by SMGC. Based on its assessment of historical data, SMGC estimated an inferred Mineral Resource of 2.5 million tonnes at an average grade of 3.7 grams per tonne (g/t) gold for 296,000 ounces (oz) of gold within the prospect. Refer to the SMGC report titled ‘JORC Resource Report, PT Iriana Mutiara Idenburg, November 2024’, released by FEG to the ASX on November 14, 2024.